Which is Witch?
by Nisa Tunesque
Summary: Musa & Tegryn, Part 6 : During a student exchange trip to Cloud Tower, Musa's fiancé Tegryn learns it's not a particularly good idea to annoy witches on their home turf. What dark secrets will the witches' prank reveal?
1. Proper Education

**Here we are, the latest installment in the Musa & Tegryn series. Just to set the scene, this is taking place around two months after Day of the Ifrit - Teggy's out of plaster and back on his feet, nothing has been seen or heard from the Trix, and life has pretty much gotten back to normal. There are one or two elements of the early parts of Season Three in here, although ultimately this and future storylines will follow a much different course. **

**I hope you all enjoy it! Well, enjoy it enough to review it anyway!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Winx Club, although I wish I did. But Tegryn, the Starz and other new characters are all mine. Character bios can be found in my forums. And if you have the time (and inclination), please vote in my new poll - it's on my forums.**

**And so, the story begins... but without the random quotes - I'll be giving you vaguely relevant song lyrics instead, starting with...**

* * *

_You could end up with a smack in the mouth  
Just for standing out, now really_ (1)

* * *

It has to be said, the Cloud Tower School for Witches is hardly the most inviting of places. 

Set atop a steep jagged peak in the darkest parts of the realm of Magix, its sharp pointed spires form a sinister silhouette, like a set of unearthly talons straining upwards to rip a chunk out of the sky. The building's sinister gothic overtones and sweeping walkways twisting this way and that give it the look of an ancient tree that has become gnarled and knotted with time. Indeed, rumours persist to this very day that Cloud Tower is not just an ordinary building, but an actual living entity complete with its own beating heart - some honestly believe that this is true, while others merely dismiss this as a witchtale (2) used to keep those goody-goody pixies off their patch.

Whatever the truth, Cloud Tower is distinctly uninviting... so what better time to visit this most delightful of places than the end of November, when the sky is at its gloomiest, the clouds are at their thickest, and the rain and winds are at their coldest, all marking autumn's final clumsy lurch into the depths of winter?

In their wisdom, Principals Faragonda and Griffin had decided that would indeed the best time for the sophomores of Alfea to have a week off their normal studies and take part in a little student exchange, an exercise first practiced in the previous year when the Winx Club's class had the honour of being the first. Now, this year's stint was into its second-to-last day, and none too soon as far as most of them were concerned.

Coming to the end of the morning period (although with the awful weather outside, it was almost impossible to say that the morning had even begun), we find Tegryn, Anyuna, Charlotte, Mimi and Nini in the vast teaching auditorium along with the rest of their class, most of them sat nervously in the front row with their witchy comrades perched behind them, tittering and making all sort of snide comments as the newcomers try to get to grips with dark magic. Being girls of pure goodness and light, many of the fairies found it difficult to get in touch with their dangerous side, although Charlotte seemed to have found a knack for it - simply thinking about the monstrous Ifrit that had endangered her homeworld just a few months before still made her blood boil. Likewise, Anyuna simply had to remember the awful injuries suffered by her dear friend Tegryn - oh, how she would meet Icy right now and tear her a strip or two. The twins on the other hand were more concerned about what sort of beats they could lay down for their debut album, and were quietly debating whether a goth-rave fusion would have any place on it. If only they could find a witch kind enough to let them listen to their music collection...

Tegryn, being a fellow whose magic had originated from witches, found the classes a whole lot easier than his friends, thanks in part to Discorda who was only too happy to sit on her semi-bonded companion's lap offering her advice as she was so fond of doing. Whilst the others were struggling to even produce a spark, he sat there juggling a crackling ball of deep maroon as though it was second nature, drawing the occasional murmur of approval from the CT natives - after all, anyone who could waste Lord Darkar deserved their respect, even if he was hanging with a bunch of snot-nosed pixies.

Even Griffin herself was impressed, watching him like a hawk from her desk with a quiet sense of satisfaction. She had been told beforehand by Faragonda of the nature of his magic, she had seen the after-effects of his power for herself amongst the devastation in the bowels of Shadowhaunt, and now she had the pleasure of seeing him in action for herself.

"_I'd love nothing more than to have him enrol here at Cloud Tower._" she thought to herself. "_He would make a fine warlock, and not only could I help realise his full potential, his sheer natural aptitude would see this school's ratings go through the roof!_"

She couldn't help but smile at that last thought - getting one over her old friend and rival Faragonda would give her no end of pleasure.

She was shaken from her thoughts by the school bell, which was music to the ears of the average Cloud Tower student. For the Alfea girls though, it was like an ultra-annoying drill burrowing into their ears - its only saving grace was that it was telling them it was time for lunch.

"Oh man. About time too!" Anyuna muttered as she gathered her belongings together.

"Yeah, you said it sis!" Mimi replied.  
"I'm starving!" Nini added.

"No guys, that's not what I meant." Anyuna answered back, before spotting Tegryn reaching into his pocket and pulling out his mobile phone. "Still trying to get hold of Musa, huh?"

"Yep. I wonder why she isn't answering." he said as he held down the speed-dial number. He sat back down, tapping his finger on the small desk in front of him as he waited.

_"Hi, it's me, Musa! Can't get to the phone right now - go on, lay a message on me!" BEEP!_

Tegryn sighed. Much as he loved hearing her voice, he'd much rather he wasn't just listening to a recording.

"Hey babe, I'm still missing you loads. Can't wait to see ya. Big hugs from me and the gang! Byeee!"

"That's so strange. I hope nothing's wrong." Charlotte said. "Have you tried anyone else's number yet? Maybe you'll have more luck."

"Worth a shot, I s'pose." he replied with a shrug. He flicked through his contacts list and tried Bloom's number first... and tutted as he was greeted with a recorded message.

"Nope. No luck there." he mumbled as he scrolled down to the next contact on the list. His face broke into a little smile as finally he was greeted by a live human voice.

"Hey Teggy - what's up?"

"Hi Brandon. Say, you got any idea where the girls are?"

Brandon stopped and thought for a second. "School, I guess. Why?"

"Well, I've been trying to get hold of Musa for a couple of days now, but I just keep getting put through to her voicemail. I've tried texting her as well, but she ain't replying. Bloom's not answering her phone neither. You don't suppose they've gone off somewhere, do ya?"

"It's news to me if they did. I just spoke to Stella about a half-hour ago, and she said they're all there in Alfea."

"Stella? Okay, I'll give her a go. Thanks for that bud."

"No problem Bro. So how's life in Cloud Tower?"

"Oh, simply marvellous!" Tegryn replied cheekily. "Everyone's so cheerful here, and the decor... wow! It's so uplifting!"

"Hey, don't knock the decor - I happen to like it!" Discorda snapped.

"Sorry Dizzy!"

"And don't call me Dizzy!"

Tegryn chuckled, gave the little pixie a hug before she got the chance to go all sulky on him, then turned his attention back to Brandon. "Listen mate, I'd better go. Thanks for helping."

"That's alright. Catch you guys later."

Tegryn flicked once more through his contacts list until Stella's name popped up. "Right then Stell, let's see where you're at!"

Before he call her however, their attention was drawn to Miss Griffin who was now stood in a rather imposing fashion.

"I'm glad you girls..."

"Ahem?" Tegryn interrupted.

"...and boy... are so eager to stay behind and get more acquainted with our own brand of magic but it's time for lunch now, so if you wouldn't mind?"

"Yeah, we really oughta walk and talk." Mimi suggested.  
"I'm still starving!" Nini added.

They stood up, Tegryn rather shakily - although his broken bones were more or less healed, the whole of his left leg still ached like nobody's business, and so standing up after sitting for an hour or two was something of an effort. They were paraded out of the teaching space and through the gloomy torch-lit corridors while Tegryn held the phone tight to his ear, trying hard to ignore the small flickering flames lighting the way. (3) He waited patiently as the phone dialled out, then broke into a grin when a familiar chirpy voice answered.

"Hello-oo!"

"Stell! How are ya?"

"Ooh, just peachy! You?"

"Oh, we're cool! Say, is Musie around? I've tried phoning her but her mobile's been off these last coupla days. Bloom's too."

"Oh. Um... well, they're all here but, err, they can't come to the phone right now. They're doing homeworky stuff. Hey guys, it's Teggy - say hi!" Stella yelled. Tegryn strained to hear their response, but the only sound he could make out was a faint but frantic _"Eeeep!"_ and the princess's vain attempt at shushing it up. He shook his head and laughed.

"Oh Stella - you've forgotten my little Polli's a truth pixie, haven't you?"

He sniggered as he heard Stella cursing under her breath, which of course prompted Tune into giving one of her "That's most unladylike! And from royalty too!" outbursts.

"Okay Teggy, you got me. They're not here."

"Where are they then?"

"Andros."

"Andros?! Why?"

"I dunno. Layla said something about mermaids going crazy, or something like that. Whatever it is, it ain't good. I stayed behind to stall the teachers."

"And a grand job you're doing too! So, is Polli behaving herself?"

"Yeah, and the other pixies too. Seriously though, I'm not cut out for this pixie-sitting business. Surely that's servant's work."

"Servant's work? Nah Stella, it's a labour of love! Listen, if you hear from my little princess, tell her I love her and I can't wait to see her again, okay?"

"Will do! Bye-eeee!"

Charlotte scratched her head as Tegryn slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"They're on Andros? Why would they go there? It makes no sense."

"Maybe they fancied a bit of sea air?" Anyuna suggested, to which Charlotte gave a shudder.

"The sea? Ewww! All wet and damp and horrible! Give me a nice hot desert any day!" she squealed as they turned a corner, right before Tegryn bumped into something. Well, less of a something and more of a someone - a pair of Cloud Tower girls to be exact, who were now sat sprawled at his feet after landing squarely on their behinds.

"Arrgh! You stupid little pixie! You spilt my coffee!" one of the girls yelled angrily, her piercing green eyes staring daggers at him as she tried to wipe the unsightly brown stain off her white crop-top. Tegryn began to apologise, but then broke into a little chuckle as he recognised the pair.

"Well well well - if it isn't Morgan and Noir, my little prom-crashing queens!"

"You _**know**_ these girls?!" Anyuna asked, shocked that he would even be associated with this sort.

"Oh yes. Remember the bat-in-the-cake thing at the Prom last year?" (4)

The Starz nodded.

"That was them." Tegryn explained as he offered his hands to help them up. Morgan angrily slapped his hand away and clambered back to her feet. Noir wasn't so impolite and took his hand, allowing Tegryn to haul her up onto her feet. She patted herself down and fixed her long black hair, sweeping a few of her thick curls behind an ear.

"You and your pretty little friends would do well to watch where you're going, pixie-boy." she said coldly, gazing at him almost hypnotically. "After all, I'd hate to be the one to mess your perfect hair up."

Morgan gasped excitedly. "Speaking of messed up, I heard Icy did one hell of a number on your leg."

Tegryn gulped when he heard this. "How the hell did you know that?"

"News travels fast!" the young witch replied with a wicked grin on her face. "From what I heard, your leg got totally shredded. Show me the scar and I might just let you off!"

"Tssch! You're kidding, right?!"

"No way! Come on, show us!" Morgan said as she lunged suddenly lunged downward and grabbed the bottom of Tegryn's left trouser leg. "It's this leg, isn't it? Come on now, don't be shy!"

"Oi! Get off me!" Tegryn yelled as he tried to push her away, before losing his balance and falling to the floor. By now, quite a crowd had built up, cheering and shouting loudly as their home-girl Morgan wrestled at Tegryn's leg like a spiky-haired terrier whilst grabbing the Starz, just to make sure they didn't spoil the entertainment.

"Go on Morgan!"  
"Get him!"  
"Hex him good!"

Suddenly a powerful sinister voice rang out, echoing off the hard stone walls for extra dramatic effect.

"Just what on Magix is going on here?"

Morgan and Tegryn froze and looked up to see Griffin glaring down at them, looking even scarier than usual.

"Well?" she demanded.

The pair scrambled to their feet, and Morgan hurriedly put her arm around Tegryn.

"Oh, it was nothing Miss - just having a bit of fun with my friend here. Isn't that right Teggy?"

Tegryn scowled for an instant - he hated anyone but his friends calling him 'Teggy'.

"That's right... Moggy, just a harmless bit of fun." he replied gruffly.

The crowd sniggered at Morgan's new nickname. However, she was less than impressed - as far as she was concerned, she and Noir were at the top of the freshman pecking order, and she certainly didn't like this show of disrespect in front of her friends. Griffin was also rather indifferent to this lack of discipline.

"It certainly didn't look like a harmless bit of fun to me - it looked more like a common schoolyard fight."

"No! It weren't a fight! Honest!"

"And your poor grammar isn't doing you much good either, Morgan. You may not like it, but these girls... and boy... are our guests here and I will not tolerate this behaviour again. Do I make myself clear?"

"But Miss..."

"_**DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?**_"

Morgan, Noir, and pretty much everyone else quailed at this booming outburst. Griffin was scary at the best of times, but when she was as angry as she was now, the word 'frightening' took on a whole new meaning. And to be honest, she had every right to be angry - she had been entrusted to ensure the fairies' safety and wellbeing whilst on campus, and if word got out to Faragonda about this little episode, she'd probably never hear the end of it.

"Yes Miss." Morgan and Noir mumbled, wearing suitably hangdog expressions on their faces.

"Good. Now I expect you all to sit down, eat your lunches quietly, and stay out of trouble!"

With that, the principal marched off, leaving a silent crowd in her wake. Tegryn turned to Morgan.

"Yes, you girls stay out of trouble now!" he said cheekily, playfully ruffling her hair.

Morgan slapped his hand away and looked on as he and his friends joined the queue for lunch. To say she was seething would be a major understatement - not only had she had been totally humiliated in front of her friends, he'd now completely messed up her hair, her precious spikes which had taken the best part of half an hour to get just right. Her whole body was shaking with rage, and she clenched her fists tight.

"Why, that bloody..."

She was stopped by Noir placing her hand gently on her shoulder.

"What you gonna do Morgan - start another fight in front of the rest of the teachers?" she said soothingly, using her soft voice to try and dampen her friend's hotheadness.

"Well what do you suggest?"

"I suggest a little trip to the school library."

"The library?"

"Yes. You'll find book smarts come in handy once in a while... especially when it comes to dealing with arrogant idiots like him."

* * *

**1. 'Mis-Shapes' by Pulp **

**2. Witchtale - kinda like a fairytale, but with no happily-ever-after.**

**3. Tegryn's afraid of fire, as revealed in chapter 4 of 'Oh Brother!'.**

**4. Morgan and Noir crashed the end-of-year prom as part of their Cloud Tower entrance exam by filling a fake cake with dozens of bats (see chapter 31 of 'The Big Question').**


	2. A Rude Awakening

**Well, that's another Ramadan over, and so after a couple of weeks off work it's back to the grindstone for yours truly. Many thanks for all you lovely peeps who reviewed the first chapter - please keep em coming!**

**And a massive shout out goes to the England rugby team, who put in some titanic performances against Australia and France to reach their second successive World Cup final. Come on lads, beat those Boks!!**

* * *

_I struggle and fight dark forces in the clear moon light without fear...  
Insomnia... I can't get no sleep_ (1)

* * *

A little while later in the school library, Morgan sat bored at a table, picking her fingernails while Noir carefully scoured the bookshelves, picking out the occasion book, flicking through it, then putting it back with a little 'hmmph'. Morgan, on the other hand, just didn't see the point of this little exercise in sneaky revenge. Casting spells behind people's backs just wasn't her style - she'd always seen herself as an in-your-face kind of girl. 

"So Noiry-gal, found anything interesting yet?" she said yawning.

"Aha! This'll do nicely." Noir exclaimed as she pulled yet another book out and slapped it on the table in front of her friend. It was about an inch thick, with a flimsy creased yellow and black cover. Morgan picked it up and read the title.

**REVENGE SPELLS & HEXES FOR DUMMIES  
By Prof. Sinistria Griffin**

"Oh. So when Griffin's not being a pain in the ass, she's writing about how to be a pain in the ass. Nice." Morgan said as she opened it, and immediately started giggling childishly.

"What's so funny?" Noir asked.

Morgan held the book up so that Noir could see what she was laughing at - it was a cartoon of two young witches standing together in front of a rather large pile of excrement, with one witch saying something to the other. The caption underneath read "I thought you were going to turn him into a TOAD".

"I never knew Griffin had a sense of humour!" Morgan sniggered, completely oblivious to the fact the signature on the drawing was not their principal's.

Noir stifled a laugh before regaining her composure and snatching the book.

"Yes Morgan, very funny. Now come on, back to work!" she said flatly as she started flicking through the pages. "Let's see... how can we get revenge on that little pixie-wannabe?"

"Ooh! How about that one?" Morgan said, jabbing at a page with her finger. Noir looked at it.

"Super Deluxe Wart Spell. Makes the target of your curse so ugly, even a blind zombie would be afraid to go near him (or her). Hmmm... interesting." Noir said with a wry grin breaking out across her face.

"That's perfect! He'll be so gross and disfigured, his poor little fiancée won't be able to look at him. His engagement'll be off! His life'll be ruined!" Morgan babbled, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Warts?! Pffft! That's kindergartner's stuff!" a voice said behind them.

The two girls turned around to see another witch in front of them, wearing a plain white top and a navy blue mini-skirt with a thin yellow and white tartan pattern on it, over a pair of black leggings. Her arms were crossed indignantly over her chest, and a pair of dusky brown eyes peered out from beneath a sweep of jet black hair. The two freshers had never seen her before, but they could tell from her demeanour that they were being addressed by a senior.

"And you are?" Morgan asked.

"The name's Megan. (2) I saw your little fight earlier, and I couldn't help overhearing all your talk about getting your own back on that guy."

"Yeah? So what's it to you?"

Megan paused for a second - she was taken slightly aback by the way this little freshman had spoken to her in such a curt manner.

"The reputation of this school for starters. Do you really think that spell would work?"

"What makes you think it won't?" Noir asked.

"Well let me ask you one thing - have you ever seen a fairy with zits?"

After a few seconds of hard thought, the two witches shook their heads, saying nothing.

"Exactly," Megan continued. "And you wanna know why? Because when they're not going ga-ga over cute fluffy kittens or gabbing on about what pretty little dress to wear to get their hair done, they're working on ways to make themselves even more sickingly cute. I tell you, they have a whole arsenal of beauty spells at their disposal - in fact, I heard they do an entire semester on skincare spells and potions alone!"

"Oh!" was the only thing Morgan could say, obviously impressed by Megan's seemingly infinite knowledge on all things pixie-ish.

"I guarantee - the moment you cast that wart spell, they'll be gone in ten seconds flat! All that time wasted for nothing. No, if it's revenge you want, you gotta go heavy-duty." the senior said as she turned around and reached for a large book sat on the very top shelf. She swept Griffin's book off the table and placed hers in its place.

"There. I'm sure you'll get some bad ideas from this little baby!" she said proudly. Morgan and Noir opened and started to read.

After a short while, Morgan gasped. "Whoa! Check this out! 'At the stroke of midnight...'"

All of a sudden, Megan angrily clapped a hand over Morgan's mouth.

"Idiots!" she hissed. "You want the whole school to know what you're up to? Take the book to your room, read it there... and keep it quiet!"

With that she walked off out of the library, muttering "Freshers! They're so bloody annoying!" under her breath.

* * *

As the school clock slowly ticked ever nearer to midnight, Tegryn stirred in his bed. Just as in Alfea, he had been given his own room - after all, it simply wouldn't do to have a young man sharing a dorm with a bunch of girls. He was having an uncomfortable night's sleep, but unlike previous nights it wasn't due to the lumpy matress he had been forced to lay on. 

He had been shaken from his slumber by a loud crash of thunder, and now he stood surveying the dark landscape, or at least, trying to survey it. For the most part it was almost impossible to see, but the occasional flash of lightning allowed him the briefest of glimpses at the unnatural shapes that made up this place, and the swirling blood-red clouds that swam overhead.

He had no idea where this godforsaken place was, but he knew one thing - he wasn't in Cloud Tower any more.

So where the hell was he? And more to the point, how the hell did he get here?

And then it struck him.

He may not have been here before, but he'd certainly been in this situation.

But that would mean...

"Well hello there, Teggy-Boy!" an overly-familiar voice rang out from just behind him. He uttered a few choice obscenities to himself as he span around to see a certain young lady standing just a few yards in front of him, her hands placed confidently on her hips.

"Darcy!" he spat.

"Long time no see." she said walking forwards and brushing his face with her gloved hand. He angrily batted it away.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Why, this is just a little social call to let you know that your favourite witches are back in town - and with a new addition to our posse too." she purred as she sauntered around him, keeping just out of range just in case he got the sudden urge to lamp herone. "You know Tegryn, we really didn't appreciate you sending us on that magical mystery tour of the universe. It took us weeks to get reunited."

"Realy? Well I didn't appreciate what Icy did to me."

"Oh yes, your leg. How is it Tegryn? Does it still hurt? I gotta say Teggy, your screams were music to my ears!"

"Yes? Well your boss's screaming as I dumped him into Limbo was pretty sweet too. All-powerful ruler of the universe, my arse!"

Darcy's face turned from a sarcastic smile to a scowl.

"Don't think for a minute you'll get away with what you did, Tegryn. Pretty soon we'll be running the show, and if you know what's good for you..."

At that very instant, a sickening jolt of pain ripped through his body, causing him to collapse on the floor clutching his head as he tried to block out the deafening high-pitched whine that had suddenly filled his world. He yelled in pain as the agony threatened to overload his senses.

"Darcy. What... are... you... doing?" he was eventually able to say.

"It's... not... me!" he heard her say.

He opened his eyes for a split second, and he could see her writhing on the ground beside him. She was in just as much pain as he was, if not more so. She had never felt anything like this in her entire life - it felt as though some unseen hand was repeatedly reaching into her and wrenching her soul from out of her helpless body.

"What's... happening... to us?" was the question that just about managed to pass her lips, before both their worlds faded into nothingness...

* * *

Darcy screwed her face in pain as the intense ringing in her ears eventually succeeded in rousing her from her troubled sleep. 

_'Oh man. What the hell happened?'_ she thought to herself. It was right then that she noticed something unpleasant, something that finally persuaded her it was time to get up - it was a constant nagging ache coming from her left shin.

_'Wierd. Why's that hurting?'_

Instinctively she reached down underneath the covers to rub it, but the instant she touched it she recoiled in horror.

Her leg. It felt... hairy?

Her eyes flicked open, and the moment they did so, she realised she wasn't where she thought she was. The smooth purple stone walls. The dark clouds rushing through the sky outside. The general atmosphere.

She instantly recognised this place. It was a place she hadn't been for quite a few years. She was in a school dorm. She was in Cloud Tower.

"Cloud Tower? What am I doing here!?" she said, before quickly putting her hands over her mouth.

Now THAT wasn't right. That wasn't HER voice that came out of her mouth just then. It was a man's voice. A man's voice she knew only too well.

She looked around frantically. She spotted a mirror on a dressing table standing at the foot of the bed, and clambered over to look into it.

Darcy shuddered.

It wasn't her face that was looking back at her.

It was Tegryn's.

* * *

Tegryn screwed his face in pain as the intense ringing in his ears eventually succeeded in rousing him from his troubled sleep. 

_'Oh man. What the hell happened?'_ he thought to himself. _'Bloody Darcy. Always interfering, and right when I needed a decent night's kip as well.'_

He yawned loudly as he lazily scratched his left breast and... right at that very moment his eyes flicked open in horror.

Left BREAST!?

Was he imagining things? Was his hand deceiving him? Tentatively, he drew his hand up to his chest, and gulped as his sense of touch confirmed it.

Yes. There was SOMETHING there all right.

Shaking, his moved his hand over to his right-hand side.

Dear god. There was two of them.

Right now he was panicking. Surely this can't be happening. Surely this can't be real.

Warily, he lifted the covers and peered downwards. Sure enough, he was now the less-than-proud owner of a pair of breasts, thankfully hidden underneath a black silk nightdress.

"What on Magix!?" he said, before quickly putting his hands over his mouth.

Now THAT wasn't right. That wasn't HIS voice that came out of his mouth just then. It was a girl's voice. A girl's voice he knew only too well.

He looked around frantically. He spotted a mirror on a dressing table standing at the foot of the bed, and clambered over to look into it.

Tegryn shuddered.

It wasn't his face that was looking back at him.

It was Darcy's.

* * *

**1. 'Insomnia' by Faithless**

**2. Did someone say "cameo"? Yes, it's my way of repaying Meg (AKA Chibi Horsewoman) for casting me in a cameo role in her story 'What Happened Next'.**


	3. Darcy Goes Back To School

**Oh dear, Teggy and Darcy are the victims of the old switcheroo. What are they going to do now? Read on!**

**A big thanks goes to Andrew2K, Meg and Starlit Phantomess for their kind reviews.**

* * *

_Everybody's talking at me  
I don't hear what they're saying _(1)

* * *

Darcy sat motionless, near-paralysed as she stared in disbelief at the manly features that now adorned her face. She was once so beautiful, but now she had... stubble? Her long hair, her pride and joy that she had spent so long growing until it reached all the way down to her waist was now replaced by a tousled mop sat awkwardly on top of her head. 

"This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening," she repeated to herself over and over again, trying hard to convince herself that was simply an illusion and not in any way real. "This is just a dream. Yes, that's it, just a dream. I bet Tegryn did this just to get me back for invading his dream. Yes, that's it. Of course it is. In a moment, I'll break this pathetic little spell of his and..."

Her train of thought was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"Teggy? Are you there?" a girl's voice called from the other side.

"J-just a second." she shouted back, cringing at how deep her voice was. She lept up onto her feet, then immediately winced sharply and sat back down on the bed. She looked down at her left leg which was now telling her in no uncertain terms that it was still hurting badly, staring in fascination at the ugly web of deep scars that it now sported halfway down the front of the shin.

_"Damn, Icy really did a number on him."_ she thought to herself, smiling slightly. _"But if I'm really feeling this pain then..."_

Another knock on the door.

"C'mon Teggy!"

"Yes, alright, alright!" she snapped back, hobbling across and opening the door. "What is it?"

"Ah, there you are!" Anyuna said, smiling sweetly as she always did. "Are you...?" she asked, her voice trailing off as she coyly placed a hand over her mouth and blushed. "Um... Teggy... you're not dressed." she said nervously, trying her hardest to maintain eye contact and not look downwards.

"What?" Darcy said as she looked down. She hadn't noticed before, but she (or rather Tegryn) was completely naked except for a rather old pair of dark grey briefs. At that moment, Mimi and Nini popped their heads around the door to see what the fuss was all about.

"Ooooh!"  
"She wasn't kidding!"  
"Lovin' the undies Teggy!"

"Hey what is this, a peep show!?" Darcy yelled angrily as she hid herself behind the door.

"Okay, okay, calm down. It's just not like you to - ahem - show yourself like this. You're normally so self-conscious." Anyuna said. "Just hurry up and get dressed, okay?"

"Why?"

"Cos lessons start in five minutes, that's why."

"Lessons?"

"Yes."

"Oh... right, lessons." Darcy mumbled, not quite understanding why Tegryn and his little pixie friends would be studying in Cloud Tower of all places. "Okay, um... I'll be with you in a minute."

With that she closed the door. She was feeling decidedly light-headed right now, and so she leant up against the door as she tried to get her head around the situation.

"Okay Darcy, keep it together. So this IS real after all. I really AM stuck in this dummy's body. I gotta play this cool. Don't want anyone to rumble me, not 'til I figure out what the hell's going on anyway. I guess this means I'll have to be... nice... to those fairies." She groaned and shook her head. "Oh man. Why me?" she sighed. "I suppose I'd better get dressed."

She began to scope the room and under his bed she eventually found Tegryn's well-worn rucksack, all battered, torn and decorated with momentos of his many lousy-sense-of-direction-induced journeys. She opened it and rummaged through the contents, tutting at his collection of the usual dull, drab clothing.

"I would've thought he'd have a bit more style, hanging around with these pixies for so long," she muttered as she pulled on the first things which came to hand. "I guess that proves one thing - Musa ain't dating him for his dress sense!" Satisfied that she was well properly dressed (by Tegryn's standards anyway), she opened the door to find that the Starz were still waiting outside.

"Oh there you are. You were in there ages. Come on, we're gonna be late!" Anyuna said as she grabbed his arm and started pulling him down the hallway.

"What?! You were waiting outside the whole time?" Darcy asked.

"Of course we were. Can't have you walking around here on your own, now can we?"

"Pfft! I can take care of myself, you know. It's not as if I need you lot to hold my hand," Darcy said as she pulled her hand away angrily.

"What do you mean? How else are you supposed to get to class?"

"I know my way around here. I can get there perfectly well on my own."

At this the girls started laughing.

"On your own? With _your_ sense of direction?" Mimi sniggered.  
"Man, that's a good one Teggy!" Nini added, wiping the tears of laughter from her face.

Darcy looked at them with a perplexed look on her face.

_'My sense of direction? What on Magix are they talking about?'_ she wondered. _'Perhaps there's more to Tegryn than I realised. I oughtta keep my mouth shut before I really put my foot in it.'_

With that, she gave an uneasy chuckle and walked on with the girls without saying a word, until she felt someone slipping their arm around hers. She looked to her side to see Charlotte walking beside her, staring at her with a concerned look on her face. It took everything ounce of restraint for Darcy not to grimace. There she was, with her diminutive frame, her big doe eyes, the cute little dimples on her cheeks as she gave a nervous smile - Charlotte was everything Darcy despised in fairies in one sweet little package, all wrapped up with a big red ribbon in her hair.

"Teggy? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah... I guess."

"Are you sure? You don't seem your usual self today. You seem... well, kind of out of it."

Darcy blinked. _'Has this pipsqueak figured me out already? Better think of something, and quick!'_

"Um... I, er, kinda had a bad night last night. Didn't get much sleep," she hastily explained.

"Oh. Oh dear. Well, as long as that's all it is. Just take it easy today, okay?" Charlotte replied, sounding a little bit relieved.

"Sure. You know, I really don't need you worrying about me like this."

Charlotte giggled.

"Sorry Teggy, but worrying about you comes with the territory, especially with all these fights we keep getting into."

"Yeah, and speaking of fights, look who it isn't," Anyuna interrupted, pointing up ahead towards a pair of very familiar young witches approaching them with big grins on their faces.

"Good morning Tegryn, and how are you feeling today?" Noir said in a suspiciously polite manner.

The Starz looked at her looking very puzzled indeed, as did Darcy.

"I'm... fine," she eventually replied, rather uneasily.

"Hey Tegryn, about yesterday? I'm sorry about what happened, you know, getting Griffin to shout at you and all that. Scary stuff, huh?" Morgan asked.

Darcy chuckled - she knew exactly where this girl was coming from, even if she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Yeah kid, you don't know the half of it."

"So, um, no hard feelings Teggy?"

"Nah. I guess we're cool."

Morgan and Noir looked at each other, before looking back up at Darcy. "Okay, see you round!"

The two witches looked on as Darcy and the Starz carried on down the corridor. When they were safely out of sight, they both burst into fits of giggles.

"Oh my god! It worked! It actually worked!"

"Can you believe it?"

"Heh! I wonder which poor sap's body he's got stuck with!"

* * *

A little while later, the main teaching hall was full as the students got ready to begin classes for yet another day. As always, the Cloud Tower girls made sure their poor fairy counterparts got the choice seats in the front rows, right where they could get a grandstand view of them making fools of themselves. The room was filled with the usual pre-lesson banter, which quietly died down as Professor Griffin strode in and took her place in the centre. 

"Right girls, quieten down. This week we've been making some very good progress getting in touch with your darker sides. Today, we're going to put all of those exercises into practice and using these skills to enhance your normal talents. Now let's see..." she said, scanning the Alfea students as they tried their best not to squirm too noticeably. "Ah yes, Anyuna."

"Yes Miss?" Anyuna gulped.

"Would you come up to the front please?"

Anyuna did as she was told, and nervously got up out of her seat and joined Professor Griffin.

"Now then Anyuna, I hear you have a rather unique ability, in that you can see into other people's dreams. Correct?"

"Yes, that... that's correct."

"Good. Good. Now with the skills you've learnt, you should be able to enhance that skill."

"In what way Miss?"

"Ah, you'll find out soon enough." Griffin replied with a wry grin. "First of all, I want you to focus your attention on me. See if you can see what I was dreaming of last night."

Nodding, Anyuna closed her eyes and concentrated. Very quickly, she saw a vision of Griffin sat upon a light grey cloud floating high above a meadow, with lush green grass dotted here and there with light blue cornflowers and blood red poppies. Suddenly below her, she saw what appeared to be a giant rabbit, leaping up into the sky and trying to bite chunks out of Griffin's cloud. It repeated this a few times, sometimes succeeding and sometimes missing until Griffin suddenly zapped the rabbit with a magenta-coloured lightning bolt, causing it to explode into a shower of bright sparks. Anyuna couldn't help but smile.

"I'm glad you found that amusing - I know I did. Now then, whilst maintaining your focus on my dream, I want you to tap into your dark energies and tell me what happens."

Anyuna obeyed, albeit with some difficulty. As she fixed her mind onto those visions which she found stirred her anger the most, she could feel a strange sensation welling up inside her. She took a deep breath as from out of nowhere, her world was suddenly filled with dozens of voices, all speaking at once. Startled, she opened her eyes to see every girl in the auditorium staring at her. Their mouths were all shut and yet they all spoke.

_"What's up with that pixie?"  
"Hah! She can't handle it!"  
"Can't hack it! Bog off back to Alfea, pixie!"_ (2)  
_"Oh my. I hope Anyuna's all right."  
"Another split end. Oh man, I knew I should've worn a hat today."  
"Damn I'm hungry!"  
"This is boring. I wanna go up to Red Fountain and check out those lovely boys."  
"How much longer do we have to sit here? My butt hurts."  
"I don't like this. What's wrong with Yuni?"  
"I don't like this. What's wrong with Yuni?"  
"The sooner I get out of this lousy body, the better."_

Her head was positively swimming as wave upon wave of their voices washed over her, an almighty tide that threatened to overwhelm her. She staggered backwards and clutched her head.

"The voices. So many voices." she groaned. She felt Griffin's hands tightly grasping her shoulders, and she heard her voice ringing out above the din.

"Anyuna. Anyuna! Focus on me Anyuna! Block everything else out, just focus on me!"

She blearily looked at the principal, staring deep into her eyes, concentrating on the patterns in her oddly-coloured irises. Slowly, slowly, the voices of her classmates faded and died away into the background until once again, her head was clear. She breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Tell me Anyuna. You mentioned voices. What voices?"

"I could hear... I could hear everyone talking. Everyone in here. But their mouths were closed. They weren't saying anything, but I could still hear them talking. It was almost as if... no that's impossible."

"What is?"

"Well, it was almost as if I could hear their thoughts... but no-one from my realm has ever had that ability."

"It's just as I said - your natural talents can be enhanced in ways you couldn't imagine."

"But some of the things I heard made no sense at all." Anyuna said, thinking back to the odd statement she heard about 'getting out of this lousy body'.

"That was probably the sheer sensation of trying this for the first time. I would say your mind isn't properly tuned to this sort of thing, but with a little practice..."

"I'm not sure I'd want to practice this again. At least, not in such a crowded room anyway."

"Yes, I could imagine all this would seem rather disconcerting to you. Anyway, you did well. Go and sit down."

Anyuna didn't need asking twice and she gratefully took her place amongst her friends, who immediately went to comfort her. As they fussed over her, she looked over at Tegryn as he sat facing the front, staring at Griffin before briefly glancing over at her - that one statement was still playing around in Anyuna's head, and she could've sworn that it came from him. It just made no sense to her, none whatsoever.

* * *

The end of the day couldn't have come quickly enough for the poor beleaguered girls. They had really been put through the mill and they all sat exhausted in the leva-bus as it sped them through the twilit forest to their home sweet home, with the Starz taking the prize seats at the back. The twins sat listening intently to their music players, occasionally swapping them over so they could compare all the new music they'd got from the witches. Anyuna and Charlotte sat together, exhausted but chatting happily. 

"Oh, I can't wait to get back. I really can't wait!" Charlotte said, clutching her hands together in pure excitement.

"Oh yes? And why would that be, as if I didn't know?" Anyuna said teasingly.

"I'm really missing Riven. I can't wait to see him again!"

"Come on! It's only been a week!"

"Seems more like a year. Oooh, I can't wait for to see him again. Maybe he'll take me in his arms and sweep me off my feet!" she giggled.

Anyuna leant back into her seat and put her hands behind her head.

"Ah yes, I know what you mean. I could do with some hunky guy sweeping me off my feet right now! I'd ask Teggy, but I don't think Musa would appreciate it. Besides, I don't think he'd be up to it at the moment!"

Charlotte looked over to see Darcy slumped in the corner, fast asleep and snoring quietly. She smiled adoringly as she pulled his jacket over her.

"Poor guy. He's totally exhausted."

"Yeah. He's been out of it all day."

"He has, hasn't he? I do hope he's okay."

"Oh, he will. A good night's rest, that's what he needs." Anyuna said as she yawned. "Yep. Just like the rest of us."

As Anyuna and Charlotte dozed off, Mimi looked over and nudged her sister.

"What is it M?" Nini asked as she popped the earphones out of her ears.

"I've never noticed that before."

"Noticed what?"

"Teggy. He doesn't usually snore, does he?"

* * *

**1. 'Everybody's Talking' by The Beautiful South**

**2. Bog off (UK Slang) - Go away**


	4. In At The Deep End

**If you think Darcy had it bad, spare a thought for poor Tegryn... A**** big thanks goes to Meg and Spongey for their reviews.**

* * *

_How can I change the World  
If I can't even change myself? _(1)

* * *

Tegryn stared dumbfounded at the image that greeted him in the mirror, the image of a certain young witch who had been bugging him ever since he had arrived in Magix all those many months ago. The only difference is that he had never seen her without makeup before nor seen anyone with morning hair quite this bad, which was shocking enough as it was. He performed all the clichés correctly - rubbing his eyes, shaking his head, tentatively pawing at his face, hoping against hope that this wasn't real. 

But this was real. Her face was now his face. Her body was now his body. For all intents and purposes, he was Darcy.

He also couldn't help noticing that these surroundings were very unfamiliar. Gone were the architectural styling of the Trix's previous lodgings in Shadowhaunt - instead, he was in a much sparser environment, chilly and damp with bare stone walls. He guessed that their new home was a cave - very apt for a coven of witches. At least it was a cave with mod-cons, judging by the ensuite bathroom located to his right.

As he took in his new surroundings whilst still in a near catatonic state of shock, he was completely oblivious to the loud knocking on the bedroom door.

"Hey! Hey Darcy! Are you awake yet?" a voice yelled from the other side.

After a few seconds of no reply, the door opened and Stormy stepped through.

"Hey! Magix to Darcy, are you there?"

Tegryn gave a little start and slowly turned around. When he saw the weather witch glaring at him, he breathed a little sigh of relief. Out of all the Trix sisters, Stormy was the one he hated the least - as far as he was concerned she was an annoyance, rather than the ultra-sadistic bitch-queen that Icy was, or the right royal pain in the butt whose body he was now stuck in.

"Stormy?! Wh-what are you doing here?" he asked, trying to mask the fact that he was completely disorientated, and failing miserably.

"Yeah, that's what I wanna know too. I'm not your bloody alarm clock, you know!"

"I... I..."

"Man, what is up with you Darcy? You look even rougher than usual!"

"Um... I, er, kinda had a bad night last night. Didn't get much sleep," he hastily explained.

"Yeah? Well we've got a busy day ahead of us. Planets don't trash themselves, you know. You'd better freshen yourself up pretty sharpish - by the looks of you, you can start by taking a shower," she said, nodding her head in the direction of Darcy's ensuite bathroom.

With that Stormy walked out, leaving Tegryn trembling in her wake.

"A shower? In THIS body?!" he groaned. "Oh man. My first day as a witch and I've been thrown in at the deep end!"

He peered down and shivered. Faced with this very uneasy situation, his new breasts seemed larger than ever, so much so that they almost seemed to be mocking him. He closed his eyes and thought hard. Even though this was his body for the time being, the last thing he wanted was to see himself naked - after all, what would his darling Musa say? Trouble is, he knew full well he wouldn't get away with not taking a shower - after all, morning hair of this magnitude doesn't just magic itself away. That is unless, of course, you just happen to know some rather spiffy hairdressing spells, which unfortunately for him he didn't.

"I suppose I could try showering with this nightdress on," he pondered as he rooted through Darcy's drawers, "Mind you I won't get properly clean and I guess I should at least be courteous enough to take proper care of this body, even if it is Darcy's. And drying this nightdress might be tricky too, unless... aha!"

He grinned broadly as he pulled a long silk scarf out. "Perfect! I can blindfold myself! Now I won't have to look at myself at all!" He pulled the scarf over his eyes and tied it behind his head. "Right! Shower, here I come!" he said triumphantly as he slipped his nightdress off his shoulders and let it drop to the floor before confidently marching forward.

It was a great plan... for a couple of strides at least, as right at that very moment he struck something very solid indeed, sending him sprawling inelegantly onto his behind. He pulled the scarf down a little and peered over the top.

"Note to self: watch out for that wall, it's a doozy!" he muttered as he rubbed his forehead.

Checking to make absolutely one-hundred-percent sure he was facing the right direction, he pulled the blindfold back and groped his way into the bathroom. After a minute or two of fumbling around, he eventually found the shower and clambered in. Before long, he was enjoying a nice hot shower, making the most of it as he knew that this would probably be the most pleasant thing he would be experiencing in the next few days.

Indeed, just a few minutes in he became aware of a strange sound which he could hear every few seconds. It was a quiet sound, only just loud enough to be heard over the trickling of water. Very strange indeed - it sounded very much like someone taking in a sharp breath.

Tentatively, he lowered the blindfold and peered around the shower curtain to see Stormy standing over the bathroom sink with her back to him. She stood there with one arm up in the air, and in her other hand she held a pair of tweezers which she raised carefully up to her armpit and then, after a while, pulled it away sharply with a wince.

Tegryn shuddered. The sight of a witch plucking her armpit hairs is the sort of thing that sticks with you for a very long time, and with the rotten day he was having, it was the kind of the mental image he really could've done without.

"Stormy? What are you doing here?!" he yelled.

Stormy turned around with a start and began to answer, before stopping and looking at Tegryn with a very curious look on her face.

"Darcy? Are you... wearing a blindfold?" she asked, pointing at the dripping wet black silk scarf which was now covering his nose.

Tegryn gulped. "Erm... I'm using this to, um, keep the shampoo out of my eyes," he quickly explained.

Stormy furrowed her brow for a second before resuming her plucking.

"Yeah, whatever," she muttered. "You're behaving very strange today."

"You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing in my bathroom?"

"Icy's hogging the other bathroom so I'm using yours. I don't see why you get to have your own bathroom while I have to share. It ain't fair," she grumbled.

"Yes, life's a pisser, ain't it?" Tegryn replied as he looked in vain for his towel before realising he had dropped it in the bedroom. "Ummm, Stormy? You couldn't get my towel for me, could you?"

He watched as she walked over, picked the towel up and brought it to him.

"No peeking now," he said.

"Pfft! Yeah, right Darcy! As if seeing you naked would make my day. Besides, it's not as if you've got something I haven't!"

Tegryn quickly towelled himself dry whilst still behind the shower curtain, making doubly sure his hands and eyes didn't stray where they shouldn't, before jumping out and into the bedroom, leaving Stormy to continue her plucking.

So what next?

He knew exactly what was coming - it was time to get dressed. He was still a boy inside, so the thought of wearing women's clothes made his stomach churn – unluckily for him he had no choice, not unless Darcy just happened to have a sturdy pair of combats and a thick woolly jumper in her collection. A brief inspection of her wardrobes revealed that this was not the case - unfortunately for Tegryn, her taste in clothing was most definitely feminine. He closed his eyes and sighed. This was not going to be easy, but it was a necessary evil - after all, he couldn't run around the place wearing just a towel.

It was time to take the plunge. He rooted through Darcy's drawers, found the plainest pair of panties he could find and pulled them on as fast as if his life depended on it.

Then, he opened the next drawer and gulped. Out of all the tasks a guy trapped in a girl's body would face, this would probably the toughest of the lot.

It was time to put on a bra.

He gulped as he pulled out a black strapless number, and stared at it for a while.

_'Well... here goes nothing!'_ he thought to himself. Clenching his eyes shut, he let his towel drop once more to the floor before carefully positioning the cups over his breasts (a concept he was still having considerable trouble with).

Now came the tricky part. Keeping a firm grasp on the two ends, he awkwardly reached behind his back as he tried in vain to attach the hooks. After a few painful seconds of failing miserably, he grunted and gave up. Then he tried again... and failed again.

"How the hell do they do this?" he said as he gave it one last attempt.

"Do what?" Stormy asked as she poked her head around the bathroom door before staring in disbelief at what Tegryn was doing.

"Darcy? What on Magix are you doing now?"

"What does it look like?" Tegryn snapped back.

"Sheesh! Do the hooks up around your front, then turn the thing around," she said, shaking her head with a snort. "What is wrong with you?! You'll be asking me to teach you how to use a knife and fork next!"

Sheepishly, Tegryn did as he was told. He turned the bra around and brought the two ends together, briefly glimpsing down to check his progress before clenching his eyes shut and wincing.

_'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'_ he thought angrily. After all his heroic efforts ensuring he didn't look upon something he shouldn't, he let his concentration slip for just a second and had copped an eyeful. As far as he was concerned, there'd be hell to pay if his beloved Musa ever found out his eyes had been unfaithful. Feeling sick with worry, he hastily clipped the bra together and covered himself up as quick as he could.

"At last. Just hurry up and get dressed - we've got a busy day ahead of us, and Valtor doesn't want to be kept waiting."

Tegryn watched Stormy as she left the room, making sure to take note which way she went by arranging his towel into an arrow shape on the floor before shutting the door. After everything that's already happened, the last thing he wanted was to get lost in this strange new place.

"Valtor? Who's Valtor?" he asked himself as he hurriedly got himself dressed, "He must be that new guy Darcy mentioned in my dream."

Making sure everything was in place and that his new hair was looking as witchy as possible, he made his way down the same corridor Stormy took and, after a while, he found what he supposed was the main chamber. There, Stormy was standing next to a man with chiselled features, high cheekbones and long blond hair tied in a ponytail as they watched a projected image on the wall in front of them. Cautiously, he made his way to join them before a familiar and unwelcome voice made itself heard behind him.

"Oh there you are! We were beginning to think you didn't want to join in the fun today!"

He turned his head and see Icy standing in front of him. Almost instantly, he could feel his hand clenching into a fist as all-too-fresh memories of their last meeting came flooding back. The sadistic way in which she laughed as he lay on the ground, bloodied and in agony - the mere thought of that moment sent waves of anger pulsing through his body.

"Hey wi-yatch, what's with the evils?" Icy asked. (2) 

Tegryn quickly regained his composure and mumbled "Nothing" before going to join the others.

"And what's with the au natrelle look?" Icy said, continuing her questioning.

"Au natrelle?" Tegryn replied.

"Yes. You're not seriously going out without your slap, are you?" (3) 

"My slap?" he asked, touching his makeupless face. Right then, he realised he had committed a cardinal sin - a witch without makeup was a fairy without wings, or so he heard.

"Might as well leave it Icy, she's been acting weird all morning."

"It's not her time of the month already, is it?" Icy said, laughing mockingly. That feeling of anger quickly returned to Tegryn as an overwhelming urge to plant his fist in her face made itself at home in his mind.

"Enough!" Valtor suddenly shouted, causing Icy and Stormy to stop immediately and focus their attention back on him. "Look at them," he said pointing at the image on the wall.

Tegryn's eyes widened - there in front of him, he could see Musa and the other Winx girls on Andros, standing on a shoreline as they attempted to catch what appeared to be a hideously disfigured old hag with a fish's tail in a bubble of magic, but to no avail. 

"How pathetic," Valtor said, his voice tinged with some amusement. "To think that those nauseatingly charming little girls can break my hold over my mermaid minions."

Icy cackled quietly as she slapped a fist into her palm. "It'll be fun creaming those do-gooders."

"Too right," Stormy snarled. "After what they did to us in Shadowhaunt, we owe them some major payback." (4)

* * *

**1. 'Salve Mea' by Faithless**

**2. Evils (UK Slang): a dirty look, as popularised by Vikki Pollard from Little Britain - "Hey! Don't go giving me evils!"**

**3. Slap (UK Slang): makeup.**

**4. See chapters 28, 29 and 31 of Day of the Ifrit.**


	5. Like a Fish Out of Water

**Well it's taken a while but I finally updated, and it looks like poor Teggy's about to find himself in a sticky situation! A big shout out goes to JadeofMoon (the artist formerly known as Starlit Phantomess) and Meg for their reviews. For anyone who's interested, Tegryn is currently heading the poll on my profile with a whopping 4 votes, with Charlotte just behind on 3. If you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for!?**

* * *

_Hey dude, I'll do what I can  
But you treat me like a woman, when I feel like a man_ (1)

* * *

Somewhere on Andros, five fairies stood on a rocky shore a short distance away from the Royal Palace, Layla's home, beside the planet's vast pale sea which gently lapped at their feet while they tried to take in the situation before them. They looked on as a rather hideous monster, which just a few short seconds ago was a pretty young mermaid, screeched at them and dived into the water. 

"I don't understand. Why didn't it work?" Bloom asked, somewhat flummoxed at their failure.

"The most logical explanation is that the magic controlling the mermaids is too powerful," Tecna mused. "We need a new approach... but what?"

"How about running away while you still can, pixie?" a spiteful reply came from high up above their heads. They looked up and gave a collective groan - as if things weren't frustrating enough, there glaring back at them were Icy, Stormy and Darcy... or so they thought. As his two companions indulged in a spot of trash talking, Tegryn couldn't help but stare adoringly at Musa standing below him as the girls geared themselves up for battle.

_'Wow. It's only been a week and I'm missing her like crazy,'_ he thought to himself. _'Man, she looks cuter than ever, even if she is about of unload a world of hurt on me... oh crap! That ain't good!'_

Tegryn and the witches quickly ducked for cover as Musa, clearly irked by what she thought was Darcy staring at her in a rather odd fashion, let fly with a sonic blast which screamed past them and hurtled into the golden sky above. As he watched Icy peel off to face Bloom whilst the other Winx girls squared off against him and Stormy, a speeding juggernaut of a dilemma slammed its way into his thoughts.

What on Magix was he supposed to do now?

Every bone in his body longed to rush off to Musa's side and try to explain everything that had happened, but he knew for sure she wouldn't believe him. More likely he'd be on the receiving end of a major league fairy-beating plus a rather long stint in Light Haven - either that or Valtor and the witches will end up dragging him away and making his life a complete misery.

No, spilling the beans wasn't an option here... at least not yet anyway. That left him with two choices - fight or flee, and he knew full well that he'd never get away with running away - if Valtor, Icy or Stormy ever caught up with him, some serious questions would be coming his way and his cover would be blown wide open.

So that just left fighting... or at least pretending to fight. After all, Stormy had already noticed that 'Darcy' was having an off-day, so he could hardly be blamed if all his shots failed to hit their target... or if he got taken out quick.

_'Yes, that's it!' _he thought to himself, trying hard not to smile at his sudden flash of inspiration, _'If I can get myself out of the frame quick, that'll leave Musa and the others to concentrate on the other two. I just hope I can make this look good!'_

With that he aimed carefully just above Flora's head and fired.

_'Hmmm? Now that's never happened before,'_ he thought as he watched his shot sail harmlessly past the flower fairy. There was something not quite right about it - instead of the bright white flash that marked his usual attacks, his bolt of magic appeared to be a circular magenta beam. It didn't take him long to work out that as well as inheriting Darcy's body, he had also inherited her powers and abilities. It certainly explained one thing - flying was normally a major hassle for him, but he had just realised that he was now hovering in mid-air with barely any effort at all.

Suppressing the urge to do a little loop-di-loop, he carefully positioned himself behind Stormy then, just as she was about to hurl one of her feared cyclone attacks at the fairies, he let loose a shot which whistled past her ear.

"Hey! Watch what you're doing, numbskull!" the weather witch snapped as she turned around and glared at Tegryn.

"Well how do you expect me to hit those pixies when your big head's in the way?" Tegryn snapped back, knowing that the longer he could keep her engaged in a pointless argument, the easier it would be for his friends to take them both out at once.

And Layla certainly didn't disappoint in that department. Before he and Stormy knew it, they had been bound together at the ankle by a shackle of Morphix that had appeared out of nowhere, expertly crafted by the home girl's skilled hands. Try as she might, Stormy couldn't force it free and so she prepared to blast it open with a highly focused gust of wind. However, just as she was about to unleash her spell, Tegryn quickly whipped her hand away. The effect was dramatic - instead of a highly concentrated cyclone targeted at their bonds, the two of them were quickly engulfed in a huge whirlwind that span them around and around so quickly it was barely possible to see them at all. Eventually, the spinning stopped to reveal Tegryn and Stormy hopelessly tangled up in their makeshift chains.

"You complete and utter idiot! What did you do that for?!" Stormy yelled.

"You're kidding aren't you? You would've ripped both our feet off!" Tegryn replied testily, obviously enjoying the chance to rile her good and proper.

"No, I would've blasted it to pieces and we'd be free to whip some pixie booty. I tell you, when I get free of this, they're really gonna get it!" she said, shooting off a lightning bolt from her right hand which thankfully was firmly bound by her side.

_'Damn, this witch's still dangerous!'_ Tegryn thought to himself as he saw Tecna approaching them warily. _'C'mon Tec, you're a smart girl. You know what to do!'_

"Tecna, hurry up! Bloom needs our help!" Stella suddenly yelled. Tegryn looked down and saw Bloom laying prone on a large stone platform ringed with Stonehenge-style pillars rising up out of the sea, with Valtor walking ominously towards her. Tecna turned her attention back to Tegryn and Stormy. Raising a hand, she called out the two words Tegryn had been willing her to say.

"Digital web!"

A glowing green lattice of energy suddenly erupted around them, trapping them in a perfectly spherical prison.

"There! That should keep you two girls out of trouble!" Tecna quipped before furrowing her brow. She looked at the witches with a puzzled look on her face - did Darcy really just give her a thumbs up?

Tegryn breathed a little sigh of relief to himself as he and Stormy watched Musa, Layla, Tecna and Stella opened up on Valtor with a full-on broadside, and then gawped in disbelief as he nonchalantly brushed their attacks aside as though they were nothing more than feathers caught on a breeze. Before they knew it, Valtor had taken them all out until only Layla remained, bravely confronting the wizard.

"What's he doing? Let me see!" Stormy grunted as she jostled Tegryn about. They were too far away to hear anything, but all of a sudden a bright light enveloped the new island, dazzling both them and the other fairies as they looked on helplessly. As the light slowly began to fade, Tegryn felt the shackles lifting off his ankle, and he could see the scenery slowing changing from the wide oceans of Andros to the dark confines of their lair.

"What happened?" Tegryn asked as he regained his bearings. "What did you do?" he asked Valtor.

"I taught that stupid girl a lesson. Sadly though, she won't be seeing the error of her ways any time soon. In fact, she won't be seeing anything at all," he replied in an irritatingly smug fashion.

"Just what do you mean by that?"

"I blinded her."

Tegryn stared at him in disbelief, while Icy and Stormy gazed at him like a pair of smitten schoolgirls.

"You **blinded** her? That's a bit much, isn't it?" Tegryn spluttered, trying desperately to keep a lid on his emotions.

"It'll send those fairies a message - it'll tell them to stay well out of our way."

As the cruel laughter of Valtor and the witches filled the cavern, Tegryn could feel a ball of rage welling up inside him. How dare this... this **fiend** hurt one of his dearest friends so badly? And how can he stand there acting as though nothing had happened? It was taking everything he had to keep his anger bottled up, but he knew he was about to fail. He had to get out of here, and so he turned and started to walk out.

"Hey. Where are you going?" Icy called out.

"I feel ill. I'm going to my room," he muttered in reply.

As he stormed out, the other two girls looked in with some degree of amusement.

"Looks like you were right Icy - maybe it is her time of the month!"

"Hmmmm... it might explain why she's walking in completely the wrong direction. Her room's that way!"

* * *

Tegryn marched on, with the mocking laughter of Valtor and his two remaining cronies still ringing loud in his ears. His concern for Musa was naturally high, but thankfully his last view of her was one of her flying, seemingly unphased by Valtor's attack. However, his concern for Layla was now at a peak. Was his friend really that badly hurt? Had Valtor really done what he said he did to her? Was this new villain on the block really that callous?

As all these unpleasant thoughts rushed through his mind, he had completely failed to realise that he had gone completely off track. He was supposed to be going to his room but, no thanks to his lousy sense of direction, he now found himself in another large chamber, round in shape with smooth walls. Nothing remarkable about this place, except for appeared to be a large tank filled with on the far side of the room. What's more, he could see something moving, something fairly large. Whatever it was, it wasn't a pet goldfish.

Curious, he walked forward to take a closer look, and gave a quiet gasp as he saw just what was contained within. There, staring back at him with a look of blind terror on her face was a mermaid, a young one and pretty too, appearing to be barely more than twelve or thirteen years of age, with her prominent fringe of long sky blue hair swirling in the water around her. She cowered in the corner at the very back of her prison, grimacing and crying out softly as she raised her arms up in a vain attempt to defend herself from whatever punishment she thought was about to come her way. Luckily for the youngster, this was no witch that was looking at her.

"Hey, hey, it's alright," Tegryn said in hushed tones, looking furtively around to make sure nobody was around to hear him. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Please," the mermaid whimpered as she drew her arms up in front of her even closer than before. She has obviously been around the witches long enough to know how cruel they and their new master could be, and as far as she was concerned, this was just a blatant lie. Tegryn looked on, saddened by this desperate sight. He could only imagine the suffering this poor girl had been through, whether it was physical suffering or simply being forced to watch her friends and family enslaved and transformed into those hideous hags. As if Layla's treatment wasn't bad enough - he was quickly fostering a very real hatred toward Valtor. He seemed to have a knack for being malicious, spiteful and sadistic, the sort of thing that really gets a person's goat. At least Lord Darkar was out-and-out in-your-face evil megalomaniac.

"Honestly, I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered to the young girl. "I'm not really Darcy. My name's Tegryn."

She gave a little sideways glance at him, and relaxed a little when she saw the soft look in what she thought were Darcy's eyes.

"You... you don't look like a Tegryn," she eventually stammered, still quivering with fear. "You're lying. You're that witch."

Tegryn shook his head, mostly out of surprise because he was able to hear her voice clearly, as though she was stood right next to him.

"Trust me, I'm not Darcy, I'm Tegryn," he said as softly and as soothingly as he could. "I don't know how the hell I ended up like this but you gotta believe me. My name's Tegryn. What's your name?"

The mermaid gulped and, after a few tense seconds, spoke.

"Re... Reeni"

"Reeni?" Tegryn smiled. "It's very nice to meet you Reeni. Listen, what on Magix is going on here?"

"I-I don't really know. It happened a couple of weeks ago. We tried to escape but... but... HE brought us all here. I'm so scared! I'm the only one left. Everyone else, they're all..." Reeni wept, and then stopped abruptly. Tegryn knew exactly why - the sound of Valtor's footsteps echoed from a nearby passageway, getting closer and closer. Clear signs of panic started to appear on Reeni's face.

"It's okay! It's okay! I'm gonna get you out of here, but you gotta trust me, okay?" Tegryn said.

"Get me out? How?"

"Like this," he replied, opening up a portal behind her. "It'll take you to that Royal Palace place I saw on Andros just now - you'll be safe there, I'm sure."

Reeni smiled nervously. "Thank you," she said as she started to swim over to the portal before stopping. "But what about you? What are you going to do?"

Tegryn thought for a moment. The young girl had a point. No doubt Valtor would notice instantly that his little pet was missing. He stared at Reeni, and then smiled as he placed his hand on the glass surface of the tank.

"Hmmmm, I wonder," he pondered as he quickly formulated a plan. "Yes, I think I have it. Just you see - I'll get away with this. Now hurry up and go, and I hope I see you soon!"

Reeni waved as she swan hesitantly at first into the portal and disappeared from view, leaving Tegryn to quickly hatch his own get-out clause.

The footsteps were getting even closer now. He didn't have a moment to lose.

Tegryn took a step back and, after making a final check that he was still alone, faced the tank and raised his hand. At that very moment, his eyes glowed Darcy's usual shade of magenta as a hypnotic beam shot out from them.

"Freeze now," he said as his spell struck the smooth glass surface of Reeni's former cell and reflected straight back at him. He smiled as he felt his own spell working on him - his little plan had worked, and not a moment too soon neither.

Valtor's eyes widened in anger as he strode into the room, instantly noticing that Reeni was missing. "Darcy! DARCY! What the hell have you done?" he demanded as he stepped menacingly in front of Tegryn.

Tegryn didn't move. In fact, he couldn't. His plan to put himself in a hypnotic trance had worked a treat.

"DARCY!" Valtor shouted again as he removed a glove and proceeded to give Tegryn an almighty slap in the face. Tegryn crumpled to the floor, snapped out of his trance in the rudest way possible.

"Why d'you do that?" he yelled back, wincing as he nursed the large red handprint that was appearing on his cheek.

"You let my prisoner escape, that's why."

"Prisoner?" Tegryn said, pretending to look blankly at the tank. "Prisoner. Oh! That mermaid! Where is she?"

"You tell me. You helped her escape."

"I did no such thing. I just walked in here, and as I walked past, I noticed she was just staring at me. Her... her eyes were... they were glowing... I couldn't stop looking."

"Well that's very strange," Valtor said, pondering what Tegryn had just told him. "I never knew these mermaids had the ability to hypontise people. Perhaps I underestimated them."

"So what are you going to do now? Go after her?" Tegryn asked as he clambered to his feet.

"No need. She's only one mermaid, and a young one at that. Even if I don't manage to recapture her, she won't cause me any real trouble. She won't affect my plans. Come." he said, beckoning Tegryn to follow.

As they marched through the rocky corridors of Valtor's lair, Tegryn watched the evil wizard walking in front of him.

_'Perhaps being trapped in Darcy's body will be useful after all. As long as I'm here, I can scupper this bozo's plans right under his nose,'_ he thought to himself. _'I just hope Darcy's behaving herself.'_

* * *

**1. 'Hey Dude' by Kula Shaker**


	6. Reunion

**What a pain, and in more ways than one! First of all, my work takes a real-life turn for the ultra-busy, then I had both my legs broken in a road accident which involved me getting knocked off my bike and having a leg run over by a car coming the other way (and yes, it was a painful as it sounds - both my legs were broken and I still have one leg in plaster) and to compound it all the flash drive that I had my work saved on (along with most of this chapter) was damaged in the accident so I've had to re-write this from scratch! **

**A big "diolch am fawr" (thank you very much) goes out to Meggy and Andrew for their reviews of the last chapter, Babywhale for reviewing _Day of the Ifrit_, and Sao, Mel and Cracker at the Fireplace just for being lovely. **

**Now, I'm not normally a review whore, but please can everyone who reads this leave me a little something? Think of it as signing a virtual plaster cast! And take a look at the new poll on my profile too. Ta very much.**

* * *

_If you look with your eyes, Everything seems nice  
But if you look twice, You can see it's all lies _(1)

* * *

"Okay Teggy, see you tomorrow!"  
"Bye-eeeee!"

Darcy rushed through the door to Tegryn's bedroom and closed it quickly, leaning up against it and breathing a sigh of relief. She had only been trapped in Tegryn's body for less than a day and already she was getting sick of it... or rather, the company she was being forced to keep. For the entire length of the bus trip from Cloud Tower to Alfea, she had been forced to listen to the fairies wittering away on all sorts of mind-numbing subjects such as what shoes are this season's must haves, or which member of the boy band _du jour _was the hottest. She did her best pretending to be asleep just so she wouldn't have to get involved in them, but instead she had to put up with Charlotte's attention, the fire fairy pulling a sheet over her friend on a regular basis just to keep her warm and comfortable.

Yes, Darcy had found Charlotte to be the most irritating of them all. She was constantly showering Darcy with friendly affection, hanging onto her arm in the mistaken belief it was still her best friend inside that body. Anyuna too was forever by her side, acting the queen bee with her pristine ebony hair and flawless complexion. Darcy smiled as she thought about Anyuna, remembering the time she came to Shadowhaunt asking for her help getting over her crush on Tegryn. Oh yes, perhaps she could have a bit of fun here after all - re-igniting the old flames of Anyuna's feelings could be very enjoyable indeed, especially if it meant ruining Tegryn's relationship with Musa. And as for the twins, Mimi and Nini - well, their habit of finishing each other's sentences was rather irritating, but they tended to chatter away amongst themselves so at least they weren't as overbearing.

She listened intently at the door until she was absolutely sure that the Starz were no longer around, then slumped wearily onto the bed in the centre of the room. She was pleasantly surprised - it was comfier than the ones in Cloud Tower. She stared up at the ceiling and sighed once again.

"How the hell did I end up here? I swear, this place is gonna drive me insane!"

With that, she sat up and lazily kicked out at Tegryn's trusty old rucksack, all battered and torn from his countless lousy-sense-of-direction inspired travels around the world. It span across the floor, tipping its contents onto the floor. After a few moments, Darcy hauled herself up and walked over to them. She tutted as she picked them up - jeans, cargos, T-shirts, jumpers, all of them in drab shades of blue, green and brown.

"Man, where did he get this lot from? Bores R Us?" she said, shaking her head. "Oh well, at least he ain't dressing like a fairy!"

She took the spilled clothes and placed them into a wicker laundry basket sat next to his wardrobe, then one-by-one began to empty the rest from his bag. She opened the front pocket and reached in, but all she found was a crumpled up piece of paper lying at the bottom. Just an ordinary piece of paper, nothing remarkable about it at all, and yet she got the sudden inexplicable urge to take a closer look at it. She carefully unravelled it and stared at it for a while. On it were what appeared to be a random jumble of strange characters. As she continued to study them, she realised something - she had never seen writing like this before, and yet she was suddenly able to read it perfectly. And as she read the letter written in flawless Xiang Chinese, a smile of pure mischief broke out across her face.

_My dearest Pui Yin,_

_Out of all the things I have said to you in the past, this is easily the most difficult of them all.  
The last thing I would want to do is upset you in any way, and yet I fear this is what is about to happen.  
Even though we shared that kiss by the fishpond and even though I have recently been hurt badly, I have  
come to realise that my heart still belongs to Musa. You know you will always be very dear to  
me, and the time we spent together during my brief visit here has only served to remind me of that, but no  
matter how much I have loved you in the past, I still love Musa in a way I have never felt before. I have missed her so much  
during our time apart just as she has missed me, and so I simply must return to Alfea. I know this will  
break your heart and for this I apologise a million times but there is no way I could tell you this to your face  
as I simply wouldn't be able to take the sight of seeing you hurt like this._

_Please remember that I will always be fond of you. The times we spent together were wonderful and I will  
always treasure them, but it is time for you to move on as I have. I don't know when I'll be back, but please, I  
beg you to find it in your heart to forgive me._

_All my love  
Tegryn_

As Darcy poured over every word, she was suddenly treated to a flashback. For a few brief seconds, she recalled Tegryn's last visit to Earth as though they were her very own memories - she saw the sweet way in which Pui Yin had tried to comfort her broken man, she felt the warm tenderness of their kiss, and she gasped in disbelief at Tegryn's desperate measures to calm Pui Yin down by hypnotising her into forgetting everything that had happened before absent-mindedly cramming the letter back into his bag and heading back to a tearful reunion with Musa.(2)

"Why Teggy - you really are a bad, bad little boy, aren't you?" she purred with wicked contentment.

_"Why my dear, you wouldn't believe how bad!"_

Darcy gave a start. "Who's there!" she snarled, her eyes darting across the room as she tried in vain to find the source of the voice. Noticing the window, she tramper over and flug it open, poking her head outside to see if some prankster was hiding outside. None could be seen.

Right at that moment, she heard a gentle knocking on the door. She quickly folded the letter and stuffed it into her pocket.

"Teggy? Are you there?" a girl's voice called out.

"Yeah! Just a minute!" Darcy replied as she hurriedly cleared Tegryn's clothes away before taking a moment to calm herself down and opening the door. Standing outside was a certain blond Solarian princess, a nauseating ray of sunshine on an otherwise perfectly cloudy day.

"Howdy!" Stella said with a cheerful wave. "Charlotte said you were back."

"Oh. Um, hi Stella," Darcy replied nervously. "So, erm, what can I do for you?"

Stella looked a little confused at this, before grinning cutely at Darcy. "Have you forgetten? You've been away for a week, and a sweet little thing not a million miles from here's been missing you like crazy!"

Darcy's eyebrows shot up in surprise. _"First this Pui Yin girl and now Stella? Surely Tegryn's not having his wicked way with her too?"_

She gulped, fearing the worst. "Who's been missing me?"

Right on cue, Polli poked her head out from behind Stella and gazed adoringly at Darcy, before rushing headlong at her and giving her the mother of all pixie hugs.

"That's who, dummy!" Stella laughed. "Who'd ya think I was talking about?"

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief as she looked furtively left and right along the corridor. "So, where's Musa?" she asked, dreading that she might soon be on the receiving end of another loving reunion.

"I guess she's still on Andros with the others," Stella replied.

"Andros? What's she doing there?"

"Man, what's up with you? I told you yesterday, they were having some sort of mermaid trouble up there."

Darcy chuckled uneasily. "Oh yes, that's right. You did, didn't you?"

"Charlotte mentioned you were feeling a little spaced. Maybe you oughta lie down for a bit. I don't think Musa and the others'll be too long."

"Yes, I might just do that. See you!" Darcy said as she slammed the door quickly in Stella's face and locked it before the poor princess had the chance to say a single word. She listened at the door until she was sure she was once again alone... except she wasn't. She peered down at Polli, who was still hugging her chest for all she was worth.

"You gonna be clinging to me all night, pipsqueak?" she snarled.

Polli looked at her with a curious look in her big eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm Tegryn, I'm your bonded... Earth... guy, but do you really have to keep hugging me like that? It's really annoying!" Darcy continued. "Look, just go somewhere else and do whatever you things do, okay? I'm tired."

Polli continued to stare at her for a few more seconds as she slowly backed away with a fearful look in her eyes. "Eep?" she eventually squeaked.

Right at that very moment, a thought come to her from somewhere deep in Tegryn's memory, and Darcy realised the massively huge blunder she had just made. Tegryn's bonded companion was a truth pixie, and the moment she said she was Tegryn, Polli knew instantly she was not.

"Eeep! Eeep! EEEEEP!" she squeaked at the top of her tiny little lungs, circling the room frantically.

"Ssssh! Keep it down, will you?" Darcy said in a vain effort to hush the baby as she tried to snatch her from the sky. It didn't work, and Polli flew to the door, trying hard to open it. Unluckily for her, Darcy had locked it. As the witch bore down on her, Polli spotted an open window on the other side of the room and made a dash for it.

"Oh no you don't, pipsqueak!" Darcy said with a wave of her hand. Before Polli could reach the window, she suddenly found herself surrounded by a glittering gilded cage floating in mid-air. The baby pixie desperately tried to escape, rattling the bars and squealing as loud as she could. This was more than Darcy could bear, and so she took the cage and shook it furiously.

"Will... you... shut... UP!" she growled. Polli quieted down for a second before continuing where she left off. Darcy clutched her ears, dropping the cage on the floor. This noise was driving her crazy, and she just knew that sooner or later, all this noise would attract unwanted attention. She had to shut her up, and fast. Quick as a flash, an idea came to her - a strange idea it was too, and one she had never heard of before, but it was an idea all the same.

"Sound bubble," she said as she tapped the top of the cage. The gaps between the bars shimmered as an almost transparent bubble wrapped itself around the cage, and as it reached the bottom, all was silent. The terrified little pixie inside was still screaming her head off, but not a sound could be heard.

"About bloody time!" Darcy muttered as she picked the cage up and started to search for a decent place to hide it. She opened the only wardrobe in the room, but it was pretty much full. So too was the bedside cabinet with the photo of Musa and Tegryn holding each other in a loving embrace on top, and there was no way in Magix she could fit it into any of his drawers. In the end she settled for hiding it behind a curtain, an act she had barely completed when the bedroom door was knocked once again.

"Oh what now? Can't a witch get any peace around here?" Darcy muttered as she walked over and opened it to find Musa standing there, smiling broadly and holding her hands in front together on her chest as though she had been waiting there for hours with baited breath.

"Oh Teggy! It's so cool you're in - I've missed you, big time!"

**_

* * *

_**

1. 'LDN' by Lily Allen

2. See chapters 22 to 25 of 'The Big Question'


	7. Darcy's Breaking Point

**They say patience is a virtue, but anyone who's been waiting for me to finally update this story have certainly been more than patient! My muse was on extended vacation, but she's back now, all tanned and refreshed. Time to get back in the writing groove...**

* * *

_"You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss..." (1)_

* * *

Darcy stared at Musa, trying her damnedest to mask both her terror and a sudden wave of nausea as the fairy gazed adoringly back at her. The moment she found herself in Tegryn's body, she had always known at the back of her mind that this was coming, but now that the moment had come she just didn't know what to do. Unluckily for her, Musa knew _exactly_what she wanted to do - before Darcy could react, Musa had wrapped her slender arms around her and pulled herself up close so that she could plant a soft kiss on her 'fiancé'.

Darcy clenched her eyes shut, knowing her cover would be blown if she reacted in any way, and so she concentrated in thinking happy thoughts... bats, bubbling cauldrons, she and her sisters reigning supreme over the entire universe with the pixies as their obedient slaves... but then an altogether unpleasant thought screeched into her mind.

_'Oh no, please don't tell me these guys are at THAT stage. Oh please, PLEASE don't be using tongues. Please no tongues, please no tongues, please...'_

Too late.

All too soon she felt Musa's tongue playfully flitting between her lips, and it took every ounce of effort for Darcy to stop herself gagging. After what seemed like an eternity, the fairy's passion was finally satisfied and, much to Darcy's relief, she slowly withdrew. Gently stroking her hand along the witch's cheek, Musa once again fixed her gaze into her boyfriend's deep blue eyes.

"Damn, I've missed you Teggy!" she said seductively.

Darcy gulped - _you'd better do a Grinch, girl... think up a lie and think it up quick_.

"I... I've missed you too."

It was at that moment Darcy noticed a rather concerned look which had suddenly appeared on Musa's face. Surely she couldn't have rumbled her already?

"Teggy, are you okay?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Darcy replied, chucking nervously.

"Are you _sure_? You're all cold and trembly, like you've seen a ghost!"

_'Or been frenchied by a fairy, who managed to top that by coming up with the mother of all clichés,'_ Darcy thought to herself, before coming up with a much more believable answer. "Well, I guess I'm still a little... zonked..."

"Oh, I don't blame you, having to spend a week with all those skanky witches," Musa giggled. "I remember when I did our little student exchange - by the end of the week I was totally doing my nut!"

Darcy bit her lip - she knew she'll get her back for that 'skank' remark later. Until then, she'll just have to continue playing the good guy.

"So how about you then... Musie?" Darcy asked, "Get up to much without me?"

"Oh yeah, same old stuff. Updated my catalogue, got nagged by Tune, kicked some Trix butt over on Andros."

Darcy perked up when she heard this - could this conversation finally be getting interesting?

"Oh, them? Fearsome as ever, were they?"

"Yep... well, two of them anyways. I think Darcy was having a bit of an off-day. She had an open shot at Flora but missed her completely, then she got herself totally tangled! I tell ya, I nearly cracked up when I saw her and Stormy all tied up together!"

Musa chuckled heartily when she recounted the witches' little show of incompetence, before finishing with a satisfied sigh.

"Anyways babe, I can see you're absolutely knackered," she said, gently pushing at Darcy's chest and forcing her to step backwards into Tegryn's room until finally she felt her legs pushing up against the side of the bed. With a deft flick of her finger, the duvet flipped itself effortlessly to the end of the bed before sitting Darcy down on the soft mattress.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Darcy asked in a near state of panic.

Musa placed a finger tenderly over the witch's lips. "Shhhh. You've got a busy day of schoolwork ahead of you tomorrow, and what sort of fiancée would I be if I didn't take care of my sweet li'l Teggy Bear?" she said affectionately as she laid Darcy down, pulled the duvet over her and planted a kiss on her forehead. "You just make sure you get a good night's sleep, and I'll come and get you in the morning, same time as usual."

For what seemed like an eternity, Darcy watched as Musa sauntered over to the door, turned around and blew her a kiss before closing it softly. Finally, when she was sure Musa was gone, she sprinted over to the bathroom, turned on the cold tap and started washing out her mouth before scrubbing at it furiously with a toothbrush.

"How dare she? How **dare**she?!" she yelled to herself as she tried desperately to get the minty-fresh taste of Musa's kiss out of her for good. She had never felt so sickened and furious in her entire life - being sentenced to a few months of hard serenity at Light Haven was nothing compared to this. She had been kissed... by a fairy. A **fairy**, of all things!!! She was trembling with rage, so much so that she could have easily blown a hole in the side of Alfea right there and then. Gradually though, she pulled herself together.

"C'mon Darcy, you're smarter than this. At least now I know that jerk Tegryn's in my body, but what the hell's he doing? Did hedo this to me? Nah, course not - the doofus ain't that smart."

She shut off the tap and returned to the bed before heading to the window. She pulled back the curtain and glared at Polli.

"It's a good job you can't talk yet, 'cos if you EVER breath a word of this, I'll wring your scrawny little neck!" she growled at the terrified baby.

She sat back down on the bed. "I guess I gotta find out where Tegryn is. It'll be tricky though," she muttered as she shut her eyes and concentrated hard on casting one of her favourite spells. "After all, invading his dreams will only work if he's asleep and in the same dimension."

After a few seconds of getting nowhere whatsoever, she opened her eyes despondently and thumped the mattress in frustration. There was no way this would ever work, and for one very good reason - when she found the letter to Pui Yin, she'd quickly worked out she while she was in Tegryn's body, she had inherited his abilities. Unfortunately for her, Dream Invasion wasn't one of them.

There was only thing for it - try and get some sleep... but that was easier said than done. Sure, the bed was comfy enough, the mattress was springy, the pillows fluffy, and the sheets were a lot fresher than she was used to (for all the Omega Dimension's good points, the laundry service there was lousy). However, instead of the sweet embrace of darkness, all she could see the moment she laid down and closed her eyes was Musa hugging her, laying over her, kissing her... loving her. Just the merest thought of the fairy's tongue slipping into her mouth was enough to bring on a tide of nausea.

This cycle continued for what seemed for ever when Tegryn's alarm clock finally announced it was time to crawl out of bed and face the new day. Dejectedly, she trudged into the shower. She was so tired and traumatised, even the thought of seeing someone else's fella in the nude didn't perk her up. After towelling herself dry, brushing her teeth yet again, and pulling on the first items of Tegryn's drab wardrobe that came to hand, she slumped onto the bed and contemplated what was to come.

How long would she have to put with this?

As time marched relentlessly towards their morning rendezvous, Darcy racked her brain. No way was she gonna subject herself to another round of love and affection - her poor stomach couldn't handle it. No, she would have to find a way of avoiding... that... without arousing any major suspicion, and right now there was only one thing she could think of.

* * *

Later that morning, with the first classes of the day fast approaching, Musa made her way to Tegryn's room along with Anyuna, Charlotte and the twins. It was such a long walk - Miss Faragonda certainly hadn't placed him in a room at the opposite end of the castle for her convenience - but it was a morning routine she was all to happy to make. However, there was something slightly out of the ordinary today. The moment Musa knocked on the door, it swang gently open.

"Teggy?" she said, poking her head into the room. The bed was a mess, with the duvet half hanging off. The wardrobe door was open and a pile of clothes spilled out onto the floor. Items of underwear were strewn here and there. As any Earth parent would say, the room looked as though a bomb had gone off. She stepped into the bathroom, which had a damp towel dropped next to the shower and the last remnants of condensation still dripping down the mirror.

Tegryn's pad was rather messy, even by his standards, and her darling husband-to-be was nowhere to be seen.

"What's wrong?" Charlotte asked nervously.

Musa shook her head. "He ain't here."

An awkward silence descended on the group, lasting a good ten seconds or so before being broken by the twins in their usual quirky manner.

"Don't worry Musie, I'm sure..."  
"...he hasn't done anything silly."

"Yeah, they're right," Anyuna said, nodding in agreement. "I mean, he wouldn't just do one for no reason, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Musa sighed, only half-convinced. "I hope nothing's happened to him."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine," Charlotte said looking at her watch. "We should be getting along though, classes start soon. Don't worry Musa, if he hasn't turned up by lunchtime, we'll look for him. Until then, just trust him."

Musa shut the door behind her and they carried on in silence down Alfea's winding corridors until they reached the Starz's first classroom of the day. There, through the grand open door, they were greeted by a most peculiar sight - Tegryn was sat at his usual place, looking like he was ready and waiting to get down to some serious learning. As he looked up and waved at them, they waved back with more than a little relief, but with one single thought nagging away at all of them:

_How on Majix did he get to the classroom on his own without getting lost?_

* * *

**(1) - 'As Time Goes By', by a whole shedload of people.**


	8. Suspicions

**Yes, I know it's been a very very VEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRY long time since I last updated this. Bad Nisa, bad! Bloody rubbish work, getting in the way of more important things :)**

**Ah well - if you've forgotten what's happened, here's the story so far. Seeing as was such a success the first time around, Tegryn's class has been selected for a student exchange at Cloud Tower. Unfortunately, he took the opportunity to annoy a couple of its students and they took revenge by casting a mind-switching spell on him. Trouble is, his mind has been switched with Darcy! While Tegryn has been getting an inside look at Icy, Stormy and Valtor's plans, Darcy has had to cope with her new goody-goody friends and a loving affectionate fiancée!**

**As always, big thanks go to all those who have reviewed this story and all my others. Keep it up guys - maybe the next chapter won't take a year and a half!**

* * *

_"Then it comes to be that the soothing light _  
_At the end of your tunnel _  
_Is just a freight train comin' your way"_

("No Leaf Clover" by Metallica)

* * *

As that morning's class wore on, a nagging doubt was gnawing away at the back of Anyuna's mind, but whatever it was she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Tegryn, who as always was sat next to her, had been acting quite odd ever since they returned from Cloud Tower. It was the little bits of out-of-character behaviour, like the way he seemed to be spending less time with Polli tagging along, or the way he managed to find his way to class without anyone's help. Even this class, which he normally did okay in, seemed to be a struggle. Okay, so Good Luck Charms and Spells weren't exactly Darcy's cup of tea, but how was Anyuna supposed to know that her best chum's body had an unwanted guest?

At the end of the period, Anyuna wisely chose her moment to try and clear up these doubts. Among the hubbub of the rest of their class standing up to leave the room, she leant over and tugged on Tegryn's sleeve.

"Teggy," she said quietly, "Is everything okay with you?"

Darcy turned and glared at the fairy, quite ready to tear her a new one before reining in her temper at the last moment and softening her demeanour.

"Well... yes, of course I am. Why do you ask?" she replied in an awkwardly polite manner.

"It's just that... well, you just haven't seemed yourself lately. Look, if there's anything wrong, you _can_ tell me, alright?"

That last sentence really hit home, but not in the way Darcy intended. As she looked back at the dream fairy's concerned expression, her mind was suddenly cast back all those months ago to the last time Anyuna had expressed concern to her. She remembered the pleading look in her eyes as she confessed her feelings towards Tegryn and how she desperately pleaded with Darcy to help her forget them. As she remembered, a smile broke out across her face.

_"Man, this is too perfect!"_ she thought to herself. _"If I really play my cards right, I can well and truly mess things here!"_

She checked to make sure no-one was looking, then gazed into Anyuna's dark eyes, gently placed a hand on her bare knee, leant forwards and spoke softly.

"Oh Yuni. I can always count on you to care for me, can't I? I'm so lucky to have you!"

By now, Anyuna's breathing had gotten shallower, her heart was racing and her face had turned noticeably red. She quickly glanced down at Tegryn's hand still softly caressing her leg. She couldn't believe what was happening. Was this for real? She turned her gaze back up to Tegryn, whose blue eyes seemed to bore into her soul. She drew her breath in to portest, but as she went to speak, Darcy drew herself up and slowly walked away, only stopping briefly to look back toward her and wink as she left the room.

Anyuna was left alone and confused in the classroom, sat rooted to her seat.

_What just happened? Did Teggy really_ _just do that? What does this mean?_

* * *

If Darcy was trying to have a good time messing with her mortal enemies, then Tegryn's time was absolutely rotten. To say he was feeling out of his depth would be the understatement of the century. For the past few days, he has been forced to tag along and act as bad as he could stomach while Valtor and his minions carried out their plans, stealing artefacts for some reason or another, and generally creating havoc across the realms.

And now he found himself back where this chapter of his life started, except this time he was walking down the dark corridors of Cloud Tower with less than desirable company. After the week he'd had, he'd become sick and tired of Icy and Stormy's cackling and crowing, and they were doing plenty of that right now.

"Man, it feels good to be the queens of this kingdom again!" Stormy gloated.

"You said it. You remember when..."

Blah blah blah.

And so it continued as they marched on through the dank, barely lit hallway. Tegryn was so down in the dumps that he hardly noticed the flickering torches dotted along its walls acting as a prelude to the greater light that awaited them at the end.

Ah. _The light at the end of the tunnel._ It may be one of the most over-used clichés in the world, but he could really do with one right now. Unfortunately, this light offered no relief whatsoever, just Cloud Tower's central assembly hall filled with dozens of young witches stood shoulder-to-shoulder, silent, enthralled by some unseen force.

"Well?" Valtor addressed them from Principal Griffin's usual balcony.

"All clear," Icy replied. "Every last girl in the school is right here, under your control."

But as Tegryn gazed across the hall full of mindless minions, he quickly saw that Icy was wrong. Two familiar faces were missing. It appeared Morgan and Noir were missing, probably playing skipping classes , but what could he do? Shop them in and earn some brownie points, or keep quiet and spare them?

This little dilemma was soon solved when Valtor announced his plans. So far he had kept his cards close to his chest, only revealing his plans bit by bit - either he didn't trust the Trix, or he was just making it up as he went along.

"Good. Now that the preparations are complete, it's time to launch our attack on Alfea. While these witches create a diversion, you three will infiltrate the Hall of Enchantment and retrieve these items," he ordered as he handed a list to Icy.

An attack on Alfea? He may have been playing along for a while now, but there was no way Tegryn could ever bring himself to do that! But no matter what he did here, there would be no way he cold prevent it... but he could delay it. The last thing he wanted was for his real friends to be caught by surprise. He had to get an warning out to them somehow... but how? He couldn't just dash off to Alfea and warn them himself. But he knew someone who could.

"Wait a minute!" he blurted out. "I don't think we have all the girls here after all. I'm pretty sure there are a couple missing."

Valtor looked at him quizzically, as did Icy and Stormy. "And you've only just realised this?" he asked.

"And just how do you know this anyway?" Icy added. "It's not like we're chums with anyone here."

Tegryn answered her. "Look, that doesn't matter. I just know there are still two or three missing and unless we get them, they could ruin everything, right?"

Valtor nodded in agreement, and Tegryn smiled. After just a few days marauding across various realms, he knew that Valtor was a lot sharper than other villains he had come across, so to be able to hoodwink him was no mean feat.

"I know just where to find them," he yelled as he took off back down the corridor, "Just wait here guys, okay?"

As they watched their comrade race away from them, Stormy leaned over towards Icy. As she was about to speak however, Valtor issued a single order.

"Follow her!"

They looked at him, and the glare in his eyes instantly told them they were all thinking the exact same thing - Darcy sure was acting strange, and it was high time they got to the bottom of it.


	9. The Gig is Up

Tegryn made his way down the tight, winding corridors of Cloud Tower as quickly as he could, cursing all the while. It wasn't the fact that he had to keep flinching every so often due to the only lighting in the corridors coming from flickering torches mounted high on the walls (easily the worst form of lighting for someone phobic to fire like him), but it was the fact that he couldn't go a few steps without stumbling that annoyed him the most. Just how was he supposed to be the all-action hero when all Darcy has in her shoe collection are three-inch heels?

And to make matters worse, he had absolutely no idea where he was going. He knew where he wanted to go all right, but he was darned if he knew how to get there.

Then, to his great relief, he glimpsed a flash of lightning out of the corner of his eye. Daring to wish for the best, he made his way over as quickly as he could - sure enough, he had found a window. Craning his head outside, he scanned the imposing school building until he found what he was looking for - a small chamber perched high on a tower, away from the rest of the school. He clambered out and tentatively hovered for a moment - even though he was in the body of an accomplished flyer, he was still very much a solid-ground guy. Satisfied that he wasn't about to plummet to his doom, he made his way across to the chamber.

He crept inside, and warily poked his head around a pillar before making his way into the main room.

"Psst! Are you here?" he whispered.

He was greeting by a small blast that he only just managed to avoid by ducking to the ground, falling over as one of his three-inch heels gave way under him.

"You have some nerve, coming in here after what you and your cronies just did!" a high-pitched voice announced accompanied by a tiny figure - Cloud Tower's very own pixie was still imposing as ever despite being so small.

"Boy, am I glad to see you Di...!" Tegryn's happy reply was rudely cut short by another blast that he had to dive to avoid.

"Just what are you witches planning anyway?" Discorda demanded. "Whatever it is, you won't get away with it!"

Tegryn quickly realised._ "Aww crap, she thinks I'm..."_

"No! Wait just a minute!" he pleaded, ducking and diving to avoid getting hit by more and more of her attacks. "I know this looks bad but you gotta trust me. Dizzy, it's me!"

A dark look descended across Discorda's face.

"Dizzy? DIZZY? How many times do I have to tell you?" the pixie snarled, "DON'T CALL ME DIZ..."

But then she suddenly stopped and stood there. "Wait a minute," she said, blinking in disbelief as she finally twigged just who she was dealing with. "There's only one person who's ever been daft enough to keep calling me that. Is that really you? But it can't be - you look so..."

He breathed a sigh of relief as he stood up shakily.

"Yes, I know, I know - I look witchy. Don't ask me how."

"I think _we're _the ones who'll be asking the questions!" a familiar cruel voice rang out behind him. Tegryn span round to see his 'colleagues' Icy and Stormy stood at the other end of the room, glaring furiously.

"Yeah, since when were you so chummy with that little runt?" Stormy asked.

"What did you call me?" Discorda demanded, stepping forward as she prepared to attack the intruders, but Tegryn stopped her.

"Wait Dizzy, there's no time! I'll take care of these two! Miss Griffin is locked up in the dungeons - free her, then get over to Alfea and warn Miss Faragonda that Valtor's planning an attack!"

"Oh no you don't!" Icy spat as she sent one of her trademark ice attacks Discorda's way hoping to freeze her in her tracks, but she was too late - Discorda had already disappeared, leaving Tegryn alone with the two witches. Knowing that they were going to follow his little mentor, he knew he had to throw them off her tracks - luckily for Tegryn, Darcy had a cool trick up her sleeve.

"You two thinking of following her? I don't think so - Swirling Vortex!" he said, raising a hand to cause a thick black whirlpool to appear on the wall close behind them. Icy and Stormy desperately tried to inch forward as the vortex's gravitational pull began to take hold but to no avail - the smooth stone surface of the chamber's floor gave them no grip whatsoever. Being so near to it, they didn't stand a chance and were quickly pulled in.

Tegryn smiled as he watched them helplessly flailing and screaming as they disappeared, but all too soon his cocky satisfaction gave way to panic as he too felt the force of the vortex.

"Oh crap, how do I stop this?" he asked himself as his feet began to skid across the floor's surface. He raised his hand and yelled "Stop! Close! Cease! Desist! Daaaaaaaamn!" as he too was sucked into his own trap.

* * *

For a while, all was a dark blur. Then, he felt himself coming up against something solid - in fact, he felt it hard. Groaning, he picked himself and dusted himself down before cursing yet again - after all this time, he was still forgetting he was now sporting a pair of breasts. He shook his head and looked around him, then shook his head again. He had somehow ended up in a barren, desolate wasteland. Crags of dark blue-grey rocks jutted up all around him, straining to reach up to the dark skies while being buffeted by ice-cold gales. As he admired the view however, he soon became aware of something much more ominous.

"You've got some explaining to do Darc!"

"The name's Darcy, you idiots!" Tegryn said as he turned to face the other two witches - suffice to say, they did not look at all pleased with him.

"Quit stalling and tell us just what the hell you're playing at! You could've ruined Valtor's plans" Stormy barked.

Tegryn smiled - chances are the gig was almost up, but he could still have fun by sowing a few seeds of disharmony.

"Tsch! Why should I care about him? That plan of his was never going to work anyway! Why don't we just find some holiday planet and sun it up while he gets his butt kicked."

"What! Are you out of your mind?" Stormy snapped. "Don't you realise where we are?"

Tegryn looked at her, blankly.

"You zapped us to the Omega Dimension! Just how the hell are we supposed to leave?"

"Omega Dimension? Never heard of it," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Never heard of it?" Stormy fumed.

"Should I have?" Tegryn replied with a shiver. "Look, I don't know about you guys but I'm freezing by behind off out here. Let's at least find somewhere a bit warmer."

He turned and started to walk away as calmly as he could, but he soon stopped as Icy shook her head.

"Nuh-uh. You ain't going anywhere! Ice Coffin!"

Tegryn turned to see her frozen bolt heading straight for him. Instinctively, he clapped his hands together out in front of him then slowly drew them apart.

"Magic Mirror!" he yelled... but nothing happened, and as he was pinned up against the nearest rocky outcrop with ice quickly encasing him, he soon realised his mistake. The 'Magic Mirror' may have been one of his favourite defensive spells, but it wasn't in Darcy's repertoire.

He looked on helpless and defeated as Icy and Stormy approached him.

"Magic Mirror?" Stormy asked. "Never seen you try something like that before. That's not one of your usual spells."

Icy fixed her victim with an intimidating stare.

"You're right Stormy, that's not one of Darcy's spells at all... is it, Tegryn?_"_


End file.
